“Do you know who I am？”
“My last name is Yang. And my first name is Jian”
“Jian Yang”
The animation Xin Shen Bang: Yang Jian tells the story of Chen Xiang cleaving the mountain to save his mother
From the perspective of Yang Jian
There’re lots of films which have depicted Yang Jian
He was either a minor role or a villain
We wanted to create a role which would be different from the past roles
Tolerant, unrestrained, casual and a little humorous
“Down the Lianhua Peak of Hua Mountian there’s a flock of mysterious bird
“They represent the spirit of fire and are powerful enough to destroy the world
“It’s the not reason to pin my mother beneath the Lianhua Peak”
“Step back, Chen Xiang”
“Fa tian xiang di”
After the release of White Snake in 2019, we started to make the preparation
Which hero would be our next choice
Yang Jian came to us
When we dug into the myths about Yang Jian
We found he had cleaved a mountain to save his mother too
“Mom”
Then I was so curious
Why he had stopped his nephew to do the same thing
Would there be some undiscovered stories
Could we provide the answers through our film
The animation involves some mysterious and detective elements
“Chen Xiang”
“You need to find the magic Lotus Lantern
“It’s none of your business”
“It’s better for you”
“That you don’t know those things”
The story was set in the Wei and Jin Dynasties
It was a period of great cultural integration in the history of China
It fit our imagination of the world of gods
“Then this time, we are enemies but not friends”
We created the role of Shen Gongbao based on Liu Lin, one of the Seven Distinguished Men in the Bamboo Forest
“A thousand days are only transient” is his line
I think he was unrestrained and heroic
Yang Jian’s costumes were designed with the features of that time
Including even slippers and belts
“What have I done?”
“You and Chen Xiang conspired to betray your masters and persecute your fellows”
We actually have also done a lot of research of the architecture
Yingzhou was created after we visited Dunhuang
We visited a scenic spot named Yueya Fountain
There was a temple inside an oasis in a desert
We saw the amazing murals in Dunhuang
So we produced the flying scene
The instruments played by themselves in the air
It was like that gods were holding a banquet in heaven
We were so inspired
The scene of Tai Chi diagram was truly hard to make
We needed to show the water-ink visual effect with three-dimensional techniques
Chinese water-ink paintings are two-dimensional with some abstract blank leaved intentionally
However, the logic of three-dimensional production is adding materials and applying colors
So the two things conflict with each other
One is simple and the other is complicated. One is real and the other virtual
When we changed a camera position
Workload brought by the re-drawing increased in logarithmic leaps
It was a tough job
“The whole universe is a cycle, and the mysterious birds will eventually spread their wings”
“Will you be capable enough to win over them?”
“Jian, cleave the peak”
“What my mother wants to guard is the endless growth of all creatures”
There have been comments that Chinese cartoons have risen
I don’t think so
I feel the industry is still in a process of rapid learning and growing
In terms of the story writing of animations
We have been looking for better ways and approaches
And there is a lack of talents in this regard
Indeed
What is a Chinese original animation
It doesn’t need to have traditional Chinese elements or music
They’re not required options
I think the core is the ethos of the animation
Be it Monkey King or Ne Zha or Yangjian
We grew up with these characters
And they’re in our blood
We present them in a different way